"Code You" by Exposed Brick Theatre at Dreamland Arts

Exposed Brick Theatre, "dedicated to telling untold stories, centering omitted narratives and creating art at the intersection of identities," was founded in 2004, and somehow this is my first experience with them. Last night I saw the new play Code You, written and directed by Nora Montañez Patterson, at Dreamland Arts, a sweet little venue on Hamline Avenue in St. Paul that I haven't been to since pre-pan. Code You is one of several plays to come out of Exposed Brick's 2020 "Through Our Eyes" program, in which they commissioned eight playwrights to write plays "in response to the multiple pandemics impacting MN communities." Code You starts out as fun and trippy multiple-reality narrative about friends just hanging out and having fun, but there's an undercurrent of something more sinister happening, and things get serious real fast. The short run continues for one more weekend only, and the hour-long play is short, sweet, and to the point, bringing back the fear of the unknown from those early COVID days and reminding us what we all went through.

"Island of Discarded Women" Live Podcast at the Woman's Club of Minneapolis

In May of 2020, I posted a piece called "I Listen to Podcasts Now!" Prior to the pandemic I listened to a few podcasts, but as it probably did for most people, the number of podcasts I listen to has increased exponentially in the last year and a half. One of my few pre-pandemic podcasts was Island of Discarded Women, created and hosted by #TCTheater artist and long-time voice actor on A Prairie Home Companion, Sue Scott. The monthly podcast was recorded live onstage in 2019 (I was hoping to attend my first one in spring 2020), and moved to at-home/zoom recordings during the pandemic. Now the live recordings have begun again in their new home, the Woman's Club of Minneapolis, the second Sunday of every month (proof of vaccination required, plus masks when not enjoying the dinner and drink service). I was thrilled to experience my favorite local podcast live last weekend!

Ghostlight Series: "Re-Cast" streaming from Theater Latte Da

The second of Theater Latte Da's five-part virtual cabaret series called "The Ghostlight Series" is now available! Following January's powerful and moving Twelve Blocks From Where I Live, Regina Marie Williams's response to the murder of George Floyd in photos and song, Re-Cast gives some of our favorites the chance to sing a song from a role they would never be cast in. Or at least haven't been yet. Both shows are available to watch now and as many times as you want through August with the purchase of a season pass. These gorgeously filmed and edited 30-minute shows with fantastic performances from some of #TCTheater's best are worth every penny, helping to bridge the gap until we can gather in person again to share stories and music.

"Flip the Script: The Great Divide IV" an audio play series by Pillsbury House Theatre

"During the 2016 presidential election, the American political landscape ruptured into one of the most heated divides in recent history. In response, Pillsbury House Theatre began The Great Divide project, commissioning five new ten-minute plays each year tackling the rising political tensions in America. As we head towards the 2020 election, on the heels of a pandemic and a global uprising, that divide has grown even larger. For the fourth and final installment of The Great Divide, Pillsbury House Theatre has invited five former Great Divide playwrights to write a companion piece to their earlier work that imagines a way to move forward, beyond the divide. By pairing playwrights' earlier work with pieces written in this election year, Flip the Script is a powerful examination of the past, present, and future of our political divide."

"Bernarda Alba" by Theater Latte Da at the Ritz Theater

Theater Latte Da's area premiere of Bernarda Alba is unlike anything I've seen. The musical adaptation of the play The House of Bernarda Alba by Spanish playwright and poet Federico Garcia Lorca premiered in 2006, but the play was written in 1936 and first performed in 1945. It tells the story of a widow and her five adult daughters, who are suffering under their mother's strict control of their lives and bodies. The score is complex, haunting, and gorgeous, and the depiction of the lack of freedom and limited roles of women in society is sobering and not unfamiliar. Bernarda Alba feels different than a typical musical; when I attended opening night there was no applause during the show, partly because it doesn't follow the usual structure of clearly differentiated songs and dialogue with scripted applause breaks, and partly because it felt like we were under a spell we didn't want to break. It's a complicated piece,* and cast and creative team pull it off beautifully.

"She Persists: The Great Divide III" at Pillsbury House Theatre

For the third year in a row, Pillsbury House Theatre is presented a collection of short plays that speak to our divided nation. The 2017 collection was subtitled Plays for a Broken Nation, 2018 was Plays on the Politics of Truth, and 2019 is an all-female collection/creation called She Persists. The series has been a really wonderful way to examine what divides us in a non-judgmental, non-threatening way, while offering a path towards hope and greater connection and conversation with each other. With most theater companies planning their seasons out a year or more in advance, it's difficult for them to immediately respond to what's happening in the world. But this series allows for that, with five brand new 10-minute plays that could not be more timely and relevant.

"I Come from Arizona" at the Children's Theatre Company

Two world premiere new works of theater are premiering at the Children's Theatre Company this fall (which is actually not that unusual for this company that focuses on new work). The main stage production of Last Stop on Market Street closed today (to make way for everyone's favorite furry green grump, another CTC original), but downstairs on the smaller Cargill stage, I Come from Arizona continues through the end of November. This very timely play (adapted by playwright Carolos Murillo from his play Augusta and Noble) speaks directly to the issues of the day, issues that children in the audience may be experiencing first-hand. Gabi is the child of undocumented immigrants, and has far more worries than any 14-year-old should. This production makes what for some of us may be abstract immigration policy ideas seem very real, and very human.

"The Privateer" by Transatlantic Love Affair at Illusion Theater

Introducing opening night of Transatlantic Love Affair's newest creation The Privateer, TLA company member and first-time director Derek Lee Miller humbly said, you don't want to hear me lecture about pirates for an hour and a half. As someone who quite enjoyed listening to him lecture about bananas for an hour this summer, I most certainly do want to listen to Derek Lee Miller lecture about pirates! Because it would be sure to be fascinating and educational and delightfully nerdy. But even better than a lecture, this excellent company tells a story about pirates through movement, words, and music. TLA fans are sure to love this new, exciting, dangerous tale. And if you haven't seen TLA before, what are you waiting for?!

"Sunrise at Midnight" by Taous Claire Khazem at Dreamland Arts

One of the things I most appreciate about theater is the opportunity to learn about cultures different from my own. Where else am I going to experience Algerian folktales? #TCTheater artist Taous Claire Khazem* has brought the folktales of her father's native land right here to St. Paul, and recruited some of her fellow artists to tell the stories in an inventive, engaging, and movement-filled way. Sunrise at Midnight can be seen for eight performances only at the charming and intimate Dreamland Arts, and the performance I attended was sold out (or very nearly), so act fast to catch this unique theater offering (info and tickets here).

"Anna in the Tropics" at the Jungle Theater

The Jungle Theater opened the first show in their 2017 season a few weekends ago, Anna in the Tropics set in balmy Florida. While we Minnesotans are enjoying an unprecedented 60 degrees in February and may not need an imaginary tropical escape, it's still a lovely, lyrical story of a family and a culture, but not without its tragedy. The wonderful all Latino and mostly local cast really makes this family and story feel alive. At its heart it's about storytelling, and the power that storytelling has to inspire us or change our lives. This play may not affect you quite as drastically as the characters in the play are affected by the story they hear, but it is an enjoyable place to spend an evening.

"Four Destinies" by Mu Performing Arts at Mixed Blood Theatre

Four Destinies is a play about the life of four adopted children in the same family - a sort of Sliding Doors alternate universe exploration of what would have happened if the parents had made different choices about adoption.  Local playwright Katie Leo has made herself a character in the play (played by Katie Bradley, who's a funny and natural host, with some more emotional moments towards the end), narrating, observing the action, and at times even interacting with the characters.  She loses control of her own creation as her characters' lives don't turn out as she expected.

The first act of the play is the same scene, celebrating the child's adoption day anniversary, enacted in four different scenarios.  The family repeats the same silly small talk, which becomes funny as by the fourth time the audience knows what's coming.  Shanan Custer as the neighbor and close family friend is particularly funny; I only wish she had more to do (she did a very funny skit at the Iveys last month).  In the four scenarios the child, whom the parents named Destiny, is adopted from Korea (Sara Ochs, aka Audrey in Little Shop), Guatemala (Nora Montanez), the US foster system (LeDawn James), and a local young woman who gives her baby to the Jones family at birth (Neil Schneider).  The four kids are at different ages (from 8 to college age) and different stages of accepting and embracing their past.  One little girl is afraid someone is going to come and take her away, despite her mother's assurances that she's "meant" to be with them, while another older Destiny takes back her heritage and her name.  The only white child is also the only male; he loves to play with dolls and wear dresses.  When his friends question the boy's behavior, the father (Nicholas Freeman) is sweetly defensive of his son, while in the other scenarios he's fairly distant, preferring to watch the football game rather than interact with his family.

In the second act, the playwright (who's also bought a DNA kit that promises to unlock her genetic history and solve all the mysteries of her life) plans to give her characters everything they wanted.  But that doesn't happen in life, or in this play either.  One Destiny travels to Korea and is unable to find her birth mother or any sense of connection.  One grows up to make movies like she always dreamed, but her family medical history catches up with her.  One has a successful career, only to end up unexpectedly pregnant and facing the same issues her birth mother faced.  The male Destiny calls his birth mother (Shanan Custer getting to flex her dramatic muscles) and finds "the story" not what he imagined.  Finally, the playwright doesn't find any answers in the DNA results.  Where does this leave us?  This is one of those open-ended plays where nothing is resolved.  But maybe that's the point.

At the beginning of the play, Katie the character jokingly claims to speak for all adoptees because they all feel and experience the same thing.  That's obviously not true; instead Katie the playwright presents four very different experiences, all in the same family.  She brings up interesting ideas about fate and what's "meant to be."  I'm not sure I believe in "meant to be;" I believe in what is.  That's really all we have to cling to.